Two whole decades of trial and error produce Yalumba’s complex Viogniers
When a family-owned winery exports beyond their cellar gate, they must appoint a marketing representative to travel abroad and convey the unique personality of the winery.
It’s the farmers, the winemakers, family members and friends leading events, dinners and tastings where they share stories and pour wine.
You will be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining storyteller than the legendary and passionate “wine communicator” Jane Ferrari, Yalumba’s global ambassador for more than 19 years. Last week, Ferrari and I talked about Viognier from the Barossa in Australia.
Ferrari said that the biggest challenge with this varietal is to get people comfortable with the word itself because “if they can’t say something, they’re not going to go near it.” It’s pronounced VEE-ON-YAY — a white grape that red wine lovers enjoy because these wines are fullbodied, complex and so aromatic that you can serve them super chilled (most white wines will lose these aromatics if served this cold).
The family fell in love with Viognier’s “exotic aromatics” in the 1970s and set forth to bottle their own. Ferrari explained that they just couldn’t get it right. They were looking for classic notes of “apricot, stone fruits, honey and spring blossom,” plus palate viscosity, but the results using the same winemaking techniques as they used to make their other white wines were disappointing. The problem stems from a hot and dry climate that produces super-ripe grapes, so ripe in fact that the grape sags and becomes tear-shaped and then, when crushed, an unpleasant bitterness can occur.
So, after 20 years of trial and error, they collaborated with Champagne Deutz and the rest is history. The answer was to treat the grapes with a light hand using gentle whole bunch pressing and indigenous yeast — aggressive crushing was out.
Yalumba’s total Viognier production is small, just 90-95 barrels per year. For their flagship Viognier, Vigilius, each barrel is individually assessed by the winemaker, who selects the most elegant, complex barrels to create a wine with desired notes of ginger and lemon grass. What doesn’t make the cut for this premium bottling goes into the estate wines (Ferrari refers to these as the “sister wines”) that are brighter, with characteristics of stone fruit and spring blossoms.
Ferrari mentioned that one of Gordon Ramsey’s restaurants, Bread Kitchen in London, had a wine-pairing meeting and Yalumba’s Virgilius Viognier turned out to be the killer pairing with pork belly! The “sister wines” shone when paired with many other items on the menu including scallops with chili, salt and pepper squid, peel and eat shrimp, lemon grass scallops and seafood sashimi.
Consider yourself lucky if you’ve witnessed Ferrari wax poetically of her love for the wines of Yalumba with her clever and engaging storytelling, using phrases containing words such as “knackered” (not sure why but I love that word!) over a glass of wine. And if you’re in Adelaide during the Fringe Festival you can catch her act, Unlimited Kilometres. You’ll love her — we all do.
Here’s a list of Yalumba’s Viogniers that are available in Alberta.
THE VIRGILIUS VIOGNIER $50
The flagship and “big sister” of the Yalumba Viognier family. The current vintage is 2016 — a dry, warm spring followed by warm days and cool nights produced healthy, happy grapes. This is a barrel selection wine chosen by the winemaker, Louisa Rose. A dry luscious white that’s fullbodied, elegant, complex with ginger biscuit, apricot, floral and almond flavours and aromas that competes with the top Viognier wines in the world, including Condrieu, France. This is a food wine. Pairing recommendations are richer dishes such as grilled sirloin and truffled gnocchi. One for the collector’s cellar. Find this wine on the list downtown at Hardware Grill.
YALUMBA EDEN VALLEY VIOGNIER $27
The little sister of Virgilius from the Samuel Collection, has that beautiful luscious palate weight and loads of aromatics that burst from the rim of the glass — ripe fresh apricot, freshly grated ginger root, peach and citrus. Current release is also the 2016 vintage. Drink now or hold for a couple years to add some toast and honey notes. Pair with ginger pork dumpling and spiced Asian dishes. On the list at the Glass Monkey (love this place!).
YALUMBA ORGANIC VIOGNIER $18
Here we have the second sister of Virgilius from the minimal intervention vineyard of the Barich family in Watson combined with Yalumba’s certified organic winemaking program from the 2017 vintage where winter moisture and a mild summer resulted in healthy grapes. Still a big white with concentrated aromas and flavours of apricot, spring flowers, “curry leaf, fennel and Asian five spice on the finish.” Recommended pairings are pad Thai and red lentil dal with spinach.
YALUMBA Y SERIES VIOGNIER $20
Finally, from the Y Series collection (the ‘Y’ depicts the shape of the new plantings of vine cuttings), this Viognier is made from the remaining barrels that didn’t make the cut for the above wines from the 2017 vintage. The winemaker, Heather Fraser, creates this aromatic, bright, fresh easydrinking wine with more “lift on the palate” than its big sisters. The label has the flavour profile printed on it. “Honeysuckle and jasmine aromas set the scene for an exotic blend of stone fruit lemon grass, and ginger flavours.” Well stated and delicious indeed. Recommended pairings include harissa chicken, spicy Asian and seafood. You will find this wine on many lists throughout the city including Vaticano Cucina, Ernest’s Restaurant, Bua Thai, King and I, Continental Treat and Yianni’s Greek Taverna.
Wine selections are available at select Alberta shops. Log onto liquorconnect.com to check availability and give them a call to verify.